Here's a photo of a random person taken 2 years ago at Sesame Place in Pennsylvania. It was like 400° that day, the sun was blazing down, and the humidity was somewhere near 400%. Well, I'm exaggerating a bit, but let's just say it was FRIGGIN" HOT.
My wife & took a breather under a tent by the food area while her nieces rode some Elmo ride or something. Anyway, there was this woman passed out right next to me. I think she was there with her mother and some other family members. I had my digital camera in my hand for several minutes before I got the opportunity to snap just one photo - the one you see above.
See, in an alternate universe I am a Photographer. I do enjoy taking photos, and often times actually find that some of them are pretty decent. I will post a photo on here once in a while for all who appreciate that sorta thing. **Click on the picture for a larger view** - Ace:)
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Have boxed sets lost their commercial luster, or can the configuration still shine when managed properly?
Only a handful of enticing boxed sets are due out at year's end. Among them are Rhino's long-in-the-works four-disc Jesus and Mary Chain collection, "The Power of Negative Thinking: B-Sides & Rarities"; the label's multidisc Jane's Addiction box, which is being supervised by drummer Stephen Perkins; and anthologies from Rob Zombie, Nina Simone, Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton and Hall & Oates.
One of the most in-demand items is Neil Young's eternally delayed "Archives Vol. 1," which will come out only on Blu-ray and not on standard CDs, but it remains unclear if it will finally see the light of day by year's end.
"Boxed-set sales have fallen off the cliff; they went from something to nothing," says Bryan Everitt, director of music purchasing at Hastings Entertainment. "This Christmas we will have a limited selection of boxed sets, the slimmest we have ever offered."
Everitt adds labels need to cut the prices of boxed sets.
"Unless the majors seriously look at reducing the price of the boxed set -- they still think they should cost $39.98 or $49.98 -- sales will continue to slide."
Mike Davis, executive VP/GM of Universal Music Enterprises, says that in response to those very concerns, the reissue specialist has launched a new series, Playlist Plus.
It offers three discs at an affordable price, packaged in a Digipak inside a slipsleeve without any booklets. Retail sources say the series carries a list price of $29.99 and a boxlot of $19.58. Acts appearing in the series include the Temptations, Rod Stewart, Marvin Gaye, James Brown, the Allman Brothers Band, the Moody Blues, Kiss and the Velvet Underground.
Not everyone thinks boxed-set sales are off that dramatically. An executive with one of the majors who is not authorized to speak for his company says they're down just like CD sales are. "Everything is relative," he says. "In this environment, you move with the marketplace. So you change your expectations and watch cost much more closely."
The last big boxed-set hit was 2004's four-disc Nirvana collection "With the Lights Out," which has sold 504,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan. (Overall boxed-set sales can't be measured; SoundScan doesn't collect data by that configuration.)
"Boxed sets are alive and well as long as you're realistic about your expectations and who the ultimate consumer is," a sales executive who works in catalog for one of the majors says. "There are some artists where you can sell 50,000 units but there are others where you might reach the 15,000-20,000 range, so you have to plan your P&L (profit and loss) accordingly."
While pricing is a concern, there are still certain circumstances when premium prices can still be charged. Newbury Comics head of purchasing Carl Mello cites the limited-edition box for Nine Inch Nails' "Ghosts I-IV," which sold 2,500 copies at $300 a pop, as an example of a project done right. Likewise, the major-label catalog sales executive points out that the high-end version of U2's "The Joshua Tree" reissue at $59.98 sold 37,000 units, while the regular, limited-edition version at $29.98 scanned 123,000.
NEW YORK (AP) - Madonna has recruited Britney Spears for a virtual appearance on her upcoming tour.
"There is footage being shot of Britney some time this week in conjunction with Madonna's upcoming (Sticky & Sweet) tour," Madonna's publicist, Liz Rosenberg, said in an e-mail Tuesday to The Associated Press. "That is all the information I have available. The rest is `a secret.'"
Rosenberg denied reports that Spears, 26, is shooting a music video.
Madonna guest starred in a music video for Spears' single "Me Against the Music" in 2003. The singers stirred up controversy that year with an open-mouth kiss at the MTV Music Video Awards.
Madonna, 49, will kick off her tour Aug. 23 in Cardiff, Wales, and wind through European destinations including London and Paris before jumping to the U.S. in October.
OK people.... Seriously? Who gives a flying sh!t about this crap?!? Honestly, aren't there more important things to talk about, like if Britney's going to get her kids back? At this point I think I'd rather go back to that than hear about this stupid 'ish for one more second.
I could care less who Lindsay Lohan is bumping uglies with. At this stage in life is it really shocking that she's all kissy-kissy with a girl? Don't think so. BORE-RING...
Someone wake me up when the sextape "leaks". - Ace:)
I must say that I am quite anxious to see the upcoming film "The Spirit" this Christmas.
While I hadn't ever heard of "The Spirit" comic book character, I AM into this genre of film. The fact that dude who created "Sin City" is behind it makes it even more appealing to me, as I totally dug that flick. Oh yeah, and it also stars Samuel L. Jackson and two of the hottest actresses on the planet - Scarlett Johansson and Eva Mendes. (Grrrrrr)
Anyways, check out the synopsis below from the good folks @ All Movie Guide, and peep the trailer as well. - Ace:)
A resurrected cop does battle with a villain whose quest for immortality threatens an entire metropolis in Sin City creator Frank Miller's adaptation of Will Eisner's acclaimed graphic novel. When a rookie cop is brutally killed and mysteriously brought back to life, he assumes the guise of The Spirit (Gabriel Macht) -- a masked crime fighter who prowls the shadows of Central City on a supernatural mission to keep the urban landscape safe. Upon discovering that his arch nemesis, The Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson), is determined to live forever even if it means wiping out the entire population of Central City, The Spirit must race to stop the diabolical villain from achieving his cold-blooded plan. But even with his unique powers, the brave masked crusader will face a series of deadly challenges as a bevy of treacherous beauties including deceptively sweet girl next door Ellen Dolan (Sarah Paulson), spitfire secretary Silken Floss (Scarlett Johansson), wraithlike siren Lorelei (Jaime King), seductive policewoman Morgenstern (Stana Katic), and French black widow Plaster of Paris (Paz Vega) set out to seduce or consume him at every turn; even The Spirit's one true love, a volatile jewel thief named Sand Saref (Eva Mendes), could ultimately destroy our hero before he accomplishes his mission of saving Central City. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
LOS ANGELES — Jessica Simpson, who was slammed this week by Pamela Anderson for wearing a T-shirt that said "Real Girls Eat Meat," has gotten her revenge on the former "Baywatch" babe by beating her to the top spot in InTouch Weekly's 2008 Best Breast poll.
Simpson's chest was followed closely by that of Tyra Banks, Scarlett Johansson, Carmen Electra, Lindsay Lohan and Katherine Heigl. Audrina Patridge's very own "Hills" earned seventh spot with Jennifer Aniston, Megan Fox and Beyonce Knowles rounding out the Top 10.
Despite having paid quite a bit over the years to go up and down, Pam's assets actually didn't make the cut at all.
The end of the Internet is near — and in less than three years, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The reason? More than 85% of the available addresses have already been allocated and the OECD predicts we will have run out completely by early 2011.
These aren't the normal web addresses you type into your browser's window, and which were recently freed up by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the body responsible for allocating domain names, to allow thousands of new internet domains ending in, for instance, .newyork, .london or .xxx.
Beneath those names lie numerical Internet protocol addresses that denote individual devices connected to the internet. These form the foundation for all online communications, from e-mail and web pages to voice chat and streaming video.
When the current IP address scheme was introduced in 1981, there were fewer than 500 computers connected to the Internet. Its founders could be forgiven for thinking that allowing for a potential 4 billion would last for ever. However, less than 30 years later, the Internet is rapidly running out. Every day thousands of new devices ranging from massive web servers down to individual mobile phones go online and gobble up more combinations and permutations.
"Shortages are already acute in some regions," says the OECD. "The situation is critical for the future of the internet economy."
As addresses run dry we will all feel the pinch: Internet speeds will drop and new connections and services will either be expensive or simply impossible to obtain. The solution to the IP address shortage is an upgrade to new addresses that can accommodate our hunger for online connectivity. Such a system, called IPv6, was agreed more than a decade ago, providing enough addresses for billions upon billions of devices as well as improving Internet phone and video calls, and possibly even helping to end e-mail spam.
from contactmusic.com British rapper/producer TRICKY was so traumatised by the 9/11 terrorist attacks in America, he was unable to come up with any new music for several years. The artist, who mixes rock, hip-hop and pop in his music, blames the harrowing 2001 incident for the long hiatus between his 2003 album Vulnerable and his new release Knowle West Boy, which hits U.K. stores next week (07Jul08). He says, "I put on (the) TV and saw the plane crashing into the building (World Trade Center). I built up a spliff, smoked it, and went back to bed.
"I knew things were going to change then. 9/11 is probably the main reason I didn't release an album for five years."
Swedish pop group Abba will never reform despite the success of the Mamma Mia stage show and film, according to two members of the band.
In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson said the pop sensations will never take to the stage again.
The group had hits including Dancing Queen, The Winner Takes It All and Money, Money, Money, and have sold more than 370 million records worldwide.
Ulvaeus told the newspaper: "We will never appear on stage again. There is simply no motivation to re-group. Money is not a factor and we would like people to remember us as we were.
"Young, exuberant, full of energy and ambition. I remember Robert Plant saying Led Zeppelin were a cover band now because they cover all their own stuff. I think that hit the nail on the head."
Andersson said they are surprised their hits are still popular after 30 years.
However, the pair are protective of their work, and kept the power to stop the stage show and subsequent film if they were not up to scratch.
Andersson said: "You don't just give songs away to anyone to do with what they want. It could have been a disaster. But we did have the power of veto which meant we could have stopped it at any time."
Ulvaeus described star of the Mamma Mia film Meryl Streep as "a goddess".
The movie, released on Friday, also features Julie Walters, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth.
